Fountains Abbey, a wonderful UNESCO World Heritage Site

Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England and also part of the UNESCO world Heritage. It is located in Ripon, in Yorkshire, not too far away from Leeds, so we decided to have a little day trip to visit this interesting location !

In 1132, 13 monks came to this valley. The abbey they founded became one of the richest in Europe. The Abbey was abruptly closed down in 1539 in the Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by Henry VIII, and was privately own until the 1980’s, when the National Trust bought the land.

The abbey is built with sandstone, limestone and Niddersdale marble. Most of the stones came from the Clift at the side of the valley and the little museum explained all the construction steps, that was very intersting. The ruins are left open, so you can meander between different areas.

The Cloisters are just amazing, it’s the best part of this place ! The day we visited it, people were singing in it and the acoustic was exceptional.

There are a few wildflowers around and even spotted a wild orchid.

There is huge park around where you can have a picnic or simply walk around. There is also a deer park but I didn’t have time to visit it that time. This is a very nice place and I recommend a visit !

One of my favourite places to visit Gin – have been coming here since I was a little girl and always fit in a visit when in Yorkshire! I have so many photos I keep meaning to share! I love the Cloisters too. The walk round from Studley Royal and the gardens (near the deer park) is incredible – you round the corner and there is the iconic view of the abbey ruins! We love the restaurant and often go there for lunch after a walk. The old mill is very interesting too. All in all a lovely place – thanks for sharing the photos of your trip! 🙂

These historical places are so special, just walking on these grounds and imagining the scene so many decades/centuries ago would be an amazing feeling. The Cloisters look fantastic, a place to play around in as well as admire…

I am in the process of going back through all of my Iceland pictures Gin! It’s a big job but I have no doubt I will be finding new and hopefully interesting images that I never got around to processing. 🙂

It’s good to see you blogging again, Gin! And since we haven’t visited the UK, there’s so much I get to know from your posts. I love the way the light funnels through the arch and the sky is patched with white clouds. Gorgeous shots of flowers as usual. 🙂

I’m trying to post as much as I can but it’s difficult to keep a good posting pattern. I have 15 posts in draft but it struggle finding time to finish editing them and post them, especially with all the pictures stored all over the computer :p

I have a lot more to post about the UK, so you should be happy !

The light was very good that day in the cloisters. I’ve visited this place twice but the first time, it was raining and the sky was really grey.. and the pictures were not that amazing.

There is a miniature in the exhibit that shows how the abbey looked like in the past and it looked mega impressive. The ruins are already really impressive on their own. I recommend the visit, it’s really nice. I’ve been there twice in less than a year (It’s that good) 🙂